Mechanically-operated figure toy



March 16 1926.

R. H. ROBERTSON MECHANICALLY OPERATED FIGURE TOY 2 Sheets-Sheet l llllllllll March 16 1926. 1,576,789

R. H. ROBERTSON v MECHANICALLY OPERATED FIGURE TOY Filed July 9, 1925 EYE-l 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 llllllllllllIlllllllllllllllllllllll I---Ill umbo: fi. fffiaZerZson Patented Mar. 16,

UNITED STATES ROBERT H. ROBERTSON, OF BANGOR, MAINE.

MEGHANIGALLY-OPERATED FIGURE TOY.

Application filed July 9, 1925.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, ROBERT H. ROBERTSON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Bangor, in the county of Penobscot and State of Maine, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Mechanically- Operated Figure Toys; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact clescription of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention aims to provide a unique toy embodying a pivoted arm mounted upon a body, a head mounted on both vertical and horizontal axes upon the body, and means actuated by movement of the arm for causing the head to move on either of its axes, the movements of said head however being entirely out of the control of the operator. The toy is by preference fashioned after the well known Billikens and in using it, questions may be asked and the movements of the head taken as answers, either yes 01, 1.1077.

Vith the foregoing in view, the invention resides in the novel subject matter hereinafter described and claimed, the descrip tion being supplemented by the accompanying drawings.

Figure 1 is a partial front elevation partly broken away and in section.

Figure 2 is a horizontal sectional view on line 2 2 of Fig. 1.

Figure 3 is a vertical transverse section on line 33 of Fig. 1.

Figure 1 is a detail transverse section as indicated by line .4-4 of Fig. 1.

Figure 5 is a detail horizontal section as indicated by line 55 of Fig. 3.

In the drawings above briefly described, the numeral 1 designates a body fashioned somewhat after the human body and preferably having crossed legs 2, and arms 3 with clasped hands. This body is formed with a neck portion having an opening 1 through which a vertical shaft 5 passes, the upper end of said shaft carrying an appropriate head 6. The lower end of the shaft 5 is disposed within a tubular vertical shaft 7 within the body 1, said shaft 5 being pivoted to said shaft 7 upon a horizontal axis 8. The shaft 7 is rotatably mounted in an appropriate bearing in a plate 9 which is horizontally secured in the.

Serial No. 42,551.

body in any preferred manner, it being thus seen that rotation of this'shaft will move the head 6 from side to side, while move- The means for producing forward and rearward swinging of the head 6 is designated in a general way at M, said means comprising a train of gearing 10 mounted partly under and partly over the plate 9. the lower end of the shaft 5 being connected by a pitman 11 and a wrist pin 12 with the gear at one end of the train 10, while the gear at the opposite end of this train is secured to a beveled gear 13, this gear being in mesh with another gear 1&1 which is loose on a horizontal shaft 15 which constitutes a pivot for. one of the arms 3. The gear 14 is provided with a clutch member 16 which is co-operable with another clutch member 17 splined or slid.-

ably keyed on the shaft 15, and a ratchet connection 18 is provided between the shaft 15 and the adjacent arm 3, so that downward movement of the arms of the figure will rotate the shaft 15, whereas during upward movement of said arms, the ratchet connection 18 will merely idle. During turning of the shaft 15 by depression of the arms, if the member 17 is engaged with the member 16, the train of gearing 10 will be driven, causing the pitman 11 to swing the shaft 5 and head 6 upon the pivotal axis 8.

M designates the means for turning the shaft 7, shaft 5 and head 6 about a vertical axis. This means comprises gearing 19 mounted upon appropriate supporting bars 20 and 21 in the body 1, the gear at one end of the train being connected by a pitman 22 with a crank arm 23 on the lower end of the tubular shaft 7. The gear at the other end of the train is secured to a bevel gear 24 which meshes with a bevel gear 25, the latter being loose on a shaft 26, the latter constituting a pivot for the arms 3 remote from the shaft 15. The gearing 19 is provided with a clutch member 27 co-operable with another member 28 which is slidably keyed or splined upon the shaft- 26, and an appropriate ratchet connectlon 29 1s provided between this shaft and the adjacent arm 3, to effect rotation of this shaft when the arms of the figure move downwardly. Then, if the member 28 is engaged with the member 27, the train of gearing 19 is driven to operate the pitman 22 and effect turnin of the shaft 7, the shaft 5 about a vertical axis.

An elongate-d frame 30 has running connections 31 with the two clutch members 17 and 28, the length of the frame being such that when either clutch is thrown in, the other is sii-nultaneously thrown out. A coiled spring 32 or some equivalent spring means is provided to normally force the frame 30 to one of its operative positions, and in the present disclosure, this spring exerts its force in a direction to engage the clutch member 28 with the member 27. Means are provided however, actuated by movement of the arms 3 to their extreme downward positions, for forcing the frame 30 to the right, against the action of the spring 32., each time said arms are lowered, and a chance device is brought into play by the final lowering of said arms, to either hold the frame 30 in the position to which it has been shifted, or to permit it to re turn to its other position, under the influence of the spring. Thus, either one clutch or the other is set by lowering of the arms, so that it will function and operate the mechanism M or M, as the case may be, when the arms 3 are again raised and forced do wnwardly. Thus, the head 6 is made to move about one or the other of its axes, and as the clutch shifting mechanism is controlled by the chance device, the movements of the head 16 are absolutely out of control of the and the head V operator.

In the construction disclosed, a horizontal lever 33 is fulcrumed in the body 1 at the left hand end of the frame 30 and is provided with lugs or the like 34 to engage said frame. A pitman 35 has a sliding connection 36 with the free end of the lever 33, said pitman being connected by a wrist pin to a bevel gear 37 mounted upon an appropriate bracket 3.8 in the body 1. This gear meshes with another gear 39 also appropriately mounted, for instance, upon a bracket 40, and in the present showing, the gear 39 is provided with a wrist pin 41 slidable in va slot 42 in a link 43, which link is connected by a wrist pin 44 with a bevel gear 45, this gear being secured suitably to one of the arms 3. Preferably, the gear 45'is anchored to a bracket 46 secured within this arm, and this bracket may well carry the ratchet connection 18, or a portion of such connection. The association of parts is such that upon raising the arms 3 of the figure, while the gear 45 turns, the slot 42 permits the wrist pin 41 to remain stationary,.so that the gear 39 and associated parts do not more. When the arms are now forced downwardly, the shafts 15 and 26 are rotated by the ratchet connections 18 and 29, and one of these shafts will then drive its respective mechanism M or M", according to the clutch which is thrown in at that particular time. As the arms near the limit of their downward movement, sliding of the link 43 with respect to the gear 39 ceases and said link turns said gear to some extent during the final downward movement of said arms. This turns the gear 37 and causes the pitman to force the lever 33 to the right, to such an extent as to shift the frame 30 in a manner to engage the clutch member 17 and disengage the clutch member 28, as disclosed in Figs. 1 and 2. The chance device above referred to, then functions to either hold the lever 33 in this position or to permit it to return when the frame 30 is returned by the spring 32. If the chance device holds the lever 33 in the position to which it has been shifted by downward movement of the arms 3, the clutch member 17 will remain engaged with the member 16, so that the next time the arms are raised and lowered, the lowering movement will cause rotation of the shaft 15, thus driving the mechanism M to rock the head 6 about the pivotal axis 8. If the chance device, however, permits the frame 30 and lever 3 to return to their previous positions, under the action of the spring 32, then the clutch member 28 is in engagement with the member '27 and the next time the .arms are operated, the .mechanism M will be actuated to turn the head 6 from side to side.

The chance device above referred to, preferably comprises a multiple-armed spinner 46 having an appropriate, loose, frictional connection 47 with a short vertical shaft- 48 suitably supported in the body 1, for instance by a bracket 49. If the spinner is held, the connection 4.7 permits turning of the shaft 48 with respect to said spinner, but if said spinner is not held, rapid rotation of the shaft 48 similarly rotates the spinner. This spinner is arranged so that either of its arms may abut a lug 50 on the lever 33 if the spinner stops in the proper position, as shown in Fig. 2. When this relation of parts exists, the lever 33 will be held to the right in the position to which it has been moved by the pitman 35 and associated parts. If, however, the spinner 46 stops with its arms out of the path of the lug 50, then the lever and frame 30 may move back to their previous positions, under the action of the spring 32.

A pinion 51 has been shown on the shaft 48, said pinion mcshingwith a gear which has an appropriate ratchet connection 53 with a spiral spring 54, and said gear 52 is secured to a bevel gear 55 which is co-operable with the gear. 45, one of thesegears (preferably the gear 45) being provided with a portion 56 -which is'free of teeth. Rotation of the gear 15, during'raising of the arms 3, causes said gear to turn the gear 55 and the gear 52. the latter then turning the pinion 51 and shaft 48 slowly, and during this inoven'ient, the ratchet connection 53 comes into play so that the spring a will not be reversely wound. When. the arms are forced downwardly however, and after the lever 33 has been shifted to the position of Fig. 2 by the pitman 35 and associated parts. the gap 56 releases the gear 55 which gear has been turned by the gear during descent of the arms 3, to effect winding of the spring 54. The result is that while the lever 33 is holding the frame 30 to the right against the action of the spring 32, with the clutch member 17 in engagement with the member 16, the wound spring 54 is released, so that the gear 52 and pinion 51 will rapidly rotate the shaft 48, thus causing the spinner 46 to spin. If this spinner stops in the path of the lug 50 of lever 33, said lever will be held in the position shown in Fig. 2, so that next operation of the arms 3 will actuate the mechanism M through the instrumentality of the clutch members 16 and 17. If the spinner does not stop in the path of the lug 50 however, the spring 32 resets the clutch mechanism so that the members 28 and 27 are engaged, causing the next operation of the arms 3 to actuate the mechanism M.

It will be seen from the foregoing that an exceptionally unique association of parts has been provided for producing the desired results, and particular attention is directed to the fact that the movements of the head 6 are absolutely out of control of the operator, due to the provision of the chance device for controlling the clutch positions.

As excellent results are obtainable from the general construction disclosed, it may well be followed. However, this disclosure is principally for illustrative purposes and within the scope of the invention as claimed, numerous modifications may be made. I intend primarily to construct the 'device to simulate the well known Billiken which has for some years been upon the market, but obviously, it might well have any other desired shape or design.

I claim:

1. A toy comprising a body having a pivoted arm and a head, the latter being mounted 011 both vertical and horizontal axes, means for moving said head on its vertical axis, means for moving said head on its horizontal axis, driving mechanism for both of said means operatively connected to said arm to be actuated thereby and including a clutch for each of said means, clutch-shifting means operatively connected with said arm for actuation thereby, a chance device operatively associated with said clutch-shifting -means for controlling the latter, and means operatively connected withsaid arm for actuating said chance device.

' 2. A toy comprising a body having a pivoted arm and a head, the latter being mounted on both vertical and horizontal axes, means for moving said head on its vertical axis, means for moving said head on its horizontal axis, driving mechanism for both of said means operatively connected to said arm to be actuated thereby and including aclutch for each of said means, clutch-shifting means active to simultaneously throw one clutch out and the other in, spring means exerting a constant force to shift said clutchshifting means to one operative position, means operatively connected with said arm for shifting said clutch-shifting means to its other operative position each time said arm is moved to one extreme position, a chance device for either holding said clutch-shifting means in said other position or for permitting such shifting means to act under the influence of said spring means, and means operatively connected with said arm for actuating said chance device when said arm is moved to said one extreme position.

3. A toy comprising a body having a .pivoted arm and a head, the latter being mounted on both horizontal and vertical axes, shafting co-axial with the arm pivot, ratchet connecting means between said shafting and said arm, means for moving the head on its vertical axis including a clutch for connecting said means with said shafting, means for moving said head on its horizontal axis including a clutch for connecting this means with said shafting, a clutch-shifting member connected to said clutches for simultaneously throwing either clutch out and the other in, spring means acting against said clutchshifting member and exerting a constant force to move said member to one operative position, a lever transverse to said shafting and operatively engaged with said clutchshifting member for forcing the latter to its other operative position, means operatively connected with said lever and said arm for actuating the former to move said gear-shift ing member to said other position each time said arm is moved to one extreme position, a chance device for either holding said lever in the position to which it is shifted or for permitting return of said lever, and means operatively connected with said arm for operating said chance device each time said arm is moved to said one extreme position.

l, A structure as specified in claim 2; said chance device comprising a spinner for holding said clutch-shifting means in said other position, said chance-device-actuating means comprising spring-driven means having a loose frictional driving connection with said spinner for rotating the latter when rapidly operated, a gear having operative connection with the spring of said spring-driven means for Winding the same, and another gear connected operatively with said arm to be operated thereby, said two gears being in mesh to Wind said spring when the arm is moved to said one extreme position, one of said gears having a portion free of teeth to release the spring when the arm reaches said one extreme position.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto affixed my signature.

ROBERT H. ROBERTSON. 

